The number of incarcerated inmates in Oklahoma has reached 62,000,reports The Norman Transcript.
The state’s prisons are currently at 109% capacity. Back in December the state of Oklahoma hit a new prison population record of 61,000. Now, in only four months, 1,000 inmates have been added to that record.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh said something needs to be done immediately to ease overcrowding. He said, in the long-term, rehabilitation programs are the answer. But, he added, “In the short-term the only thing we can do is hope and pray the legislature will step up and give us the necessary money to acquire, rent, beg, or borrow more additional beds to handle the influx.”
Experts have projected that, if nothing is done, Oklahoma's prison population will increase by 25% over the next 10-years.